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Syracuse quarterback Drew Allen temporarily flying under the radar on his new campus

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Drew Allen, a transfer from Oklahoma, visited Syracuse this week to prepare for the beginning of his SU career at the end of June. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
(Photo courtesy of Stephen Pingry | Tulsa World)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Drew Allen is standing before the cash register at Shirt World on Marshall Street. Piled on the glass countertop at the back of the store is a collection of T-shirts, shorts and other Syracuse apparel that the transfer quarterback from Oklahoma has picked out as gifts for his family.

I'm next to Drew, and the peculiarity of our pairing is striking. He is a 6-foot-5-inch brawny college football player chiseled from life in a weight room. I am a 5-foot-9-inch scrawny journalist who writes about what goes on in said weight room. He is, almost literally, two of me.

The man behind the counter asks me if I'm a student at Syracuse. I inform him that I just graduated in May and now work for The Post-Standard covering SU football. His eyes widen.

He launches into a soliloquy about his excitement over the new quarterback that will be arriving from Oklahoma. He gushes about the player he believes can continue the resurrection of the program and take it to another level in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Drew is leaning over the counter and his eyes quickly dart in my direction. He's holding back a chuckle and does not reveal his identity. I play along.

"I think Drew Allen arrives around July 1," I tell the man. "Everyone is excited."

He finishes ringing up the items, still unaware that the player he praised is looking him in the eye from two feet away. Drew pays with a credit card, and the name "Andrew Allen" is printed on it. Still nothing.

As we prepare to leave, the man behind the counter tells me he'll look for my articles in the paper. "If you keep reading you can put a face to the name," I tell him.

Drew and I are walking to the front of the store when reality sets in.

"Holy (expletive)! Do you know who that was?" the man says to an employe in the back room.

We are 50 yards down the street when the man comes running out of the store. A dumbfounded grin is plastered across his face. He's been punked and he knows it. The jig is up. He can't help but wave and laugh as we walk away smiling.

***

Drew was in Syracuse for three days this week tying up loose ends before arriving on campus for good June 30. He visited his new apartment in University Village, spent time in the football facility with his teammates and explored the community that he will call home for the next year.

I spent a couple hours with Drew on Wednesday in an attempt to get to know the player that has captivated Syracuse fans before stepping foot on the field. But despite the mild hysteria surrounding his persona -- Twitter messages, fan comments, proclamations of a stellar first season in the ACC with him at the helm -- Drew goes unnoticed in an afternoon on campus. His build and attire suggest he's an athlete; his twangy Texas accent indicates he's not from the area.

The result is one comical incident at Shirt World and a lot of blending into the crowd -- for now. Everything will change in a few short weeks when his face actuates the reaction his name currently does.

"The way that happened at the store was literally perfect," Drew said beaming.

At well over 6 feet tall and 240 pounds -- he weighed himself at the football facility Tuesday -- he looks the part of a linebacker. Except he's a quarterback.

And next to me he looks like a Hall of Famer.

Drew requests that we eat at Funk n Waffles, a popular restaurant in the Marshall Street area that he saw featured on Guy Fieri's show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" on the Food Network. He orders chicken and waffles, and we retreat to a booth near the back of the restaurant.

Conversation drifts from football to his ranch in San Antonio where he goes hunting to the Spurs' agonizing loss in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. The latter topic is the most emotional; he's still bitter about his team blowing a five-point lead in the final 30 seconds. He watched the game alone in his hotel room and was so enthusiastic, so sure that Tim Duncan and Co. had secured another title, that people in neighboring rooms complained to the front desk about his premature celebratory yelling.

After a while, I explain to Drew the level of excitement that his decision to transfer to Syracuse triggered throughout the community. That the mere prospect of a player coming to SU from a school like Oklahoma, which is perennially among the best in the country, spiked expectations and boosted projected win totals to eight, nine, even 10 games.

It hasn't hit him yet.

"Really?" he asks, pausing between bites of chicken and waffles, a small smirk of embarrassment flashing across his face.

He will be the talk of the town when preseason camp starts during the first week of August, and it is fair to say this quarterback battle -- Drew Allen, Charley Loeb, Terrel Hunt, John Kinder -- could easily spawn more hype than when Greg Paulus embarked on his one year at Syracuse in 2009. And if he wins the job, as most Syracuse fans already expect him to, Drew will be thrust onto a pedestal of equal parts hope and expectation.

He's been built up like a pro, and now he will be expected to deliver.

***

But all that -- the competition, the hype, the first chance to see him throw -- is not until August. Drew heads back to Oklahoma on Thursday to gather his belongings and say his goodbye to Norman, the place he spent the last four years.

In the meantime, Drew is merely a common visitor to the campus he will excite from August to -- well, the end date is still to be determined. He glides along Marshall Street, Waverly Avenue and University Place without catching the attention of those around him. His black Oakley sunglasses hang off his neck in reflection of his happy, carefree demeanor.

He traverses the Syracuse bookstore after lunch and the eventful trip to Shirt World and picks out a few more items to bring home to his family. He pauses at the glass case containing orange basketball T-shirts that are wildly popular among students. There's a No. 1 for Michael Carter-Williams, a No. 5 for C.J. Fair, a No. 12 for Baye Moussa Keita, and so on and so forth.

"I hear the Mavericks are interested in Carter-Williams," I say.

"Yeah," Drew responds. "He's really, really good."

A few months ago it was Carter-Williams, a former McDonald's All-American, that guided Syracuse to a Final Four and captured the hearts of fans while cementing himself as one of the best point guards in school history. Expectations rested firmly on his shoulders, and Carter-Williams delivered with the best set of basketball memories in a decade.

Now that role belongs to Drew, on a different playing surface but with the same responsibilities of taking the Orange to new heights. Carter-Williams was the quarterback of the basketball team, and Drew is simply the quarterback. It's his show if he wins the starting job.

He's the player Syracuse fans are waiting for. And in a few months he could be the one whose T-shirt they want to buy, even if the store owners don't recognize him just yet.

Soon enough they will.

"I've never had something like that happen before," Drew said, the smile unrelenting. "I'm going to tell my parents about that."